____
Without the commander’s order, the Black Iron Camp dared not retreat for even one step.
____
Chang Geng took over the report, Gu Yun asked, “How many naval troops are left in Jiangnan?”
“Hard to say,” Chang Geng swept across it quickly. “Our Dragons had never crossed the sea, let alone fight at sea. Zhao You Fang’s death had plunged them into a panic, people were fleeing in all directions. Yifu, do you remember when Wei w.a.n.g rioted?”
Gu Yun pinched the bridge of his nose, understanding what he meant.
That year, Wei w.a.n.g bought the Jiangnan Navy commander and half of the naval force. Unexpectedly, Gu Yun and Lin Yuan Pavilion had joined forces together to stir it up before he was ready.
‘Gu Yun and Lin Yuan Pavilion’s joint efforts’, in fact, that year by Gu Yun’s side were a few Black Eagles and young children, Lin Yuan Pavilion was only an organization comprised of thirty people from the pugilist world, including that useless Liao Ran who could put on Heavy Armor but could not take it off.
Gu Yun had great influence in the army from his prestige throughout the years. His sudden appearance that had frightened the rebels who were guilty was one of the reasons, but this also proved that Great Liang’s Navy was indeed a crippled leg.
Even a rebellion could not be carried out properly.
If this had happened under the reign of Emperor Yuan He, Gu Yun might have had the opportunity to intervene in the Navy just as he did in rectifying the city defense forces in the Northern Frontier. Unfortunately, Li Feng was not the soft-hearted kind similar to Emperor Yuan He and was indecisive in killing a few people. That kind of thing could never happen in the years of Long An.
Gu Yun: “What about Yao Chong Ze? Was he also dead?”
Chang Geng: “There was no mention, there are too many casualties.”
Gu Yun sighed, “And what is a ‘sea monster’?”
Chang Geng: “It is said that it resembles a large octopus and can lurk under the water. It’s like a mountain when coming out of the surface, covering the sky. Compared with it, the Giant Kite is similar to a pigeon landing on the shoulder of a warrior. It has numerous iron claws on its body, connected to thousands of small Sea Dragons, and when the top opened up, it can release large groups of Eagle armor…”
When Chang Geng said this, he paused slightly, his slender fingers lightly rubbing the report: “If such a thing exists, at least four or five hundred kilograms of Ziliujin are required to be burned daily.”
Gu Yun looked at him, Chang Geng shook his head slightly, he did not say more. The second half of the sentence was hidden — the Westerners paid such a heavy price, I’m afraid they did not come to fight a prolonged war with us.
“Having dealt with the navy in Jiangnan, there is no worries left on the sea, Da Gu Port Navy is not their opponent, the next step is to press directly to the capital,” Gu Yun took down the map on the wall, “Old Tan, how many troops can be deployed in the capital?”
Tan Hong Fei licked his dry and cracked lips: “There are two thousand Heavy Armors in the Northern Camp, 16,000 Light Cavalry, and two thousand chariots and hors.e.m.e.n. There are eighty chariots in total with three pairs of baihong on each of them, each with a long and short artillery at the head and tail.”
This meager forces were only enough to force the Emperor to abdicate, clashing with the Westerner using all that they’ve got acc.u.mulated and planned for many years was much like a pinch of salt in an ocean, Gu Yun frowned: “What about the Imperial Army?”
“The Imperial Army is no good. There are less than 6,000 people in total. More than half of them are the young master type with only appearance, they have never seen blood.” Tan Hong Fei paused for a moment then suddenly remembered something. He took an object out of his chest and solemnly held it in both hands and gave it to Gu Yun. “That’s right, the Emperor had asked me to bring this to Marshal.”
The thing was wrapped in fine palace silk, one would originally a.s.sume it was some kind of precious jewelry, only to find a ferocious-looking Black Iron Tiger emblem inside.
Gu Yun glanced at it then lifted his lips in an unamused smile. “What good would it do giving this back to me now? The flower had already withered.”
Tan Hong Fei did not know what to say.
Gu Yun casually threw the Black Tiger Emblem to Tan Hong Fei: “Alright, since the Emperor has made up his mind, you can go write the orders according to his wishes. Summon the local garrisons in Zhili, Shandong Province to return for defense, aid the difficulties in the capital, let Cai Fen divide his force to lead the reinforcement… Well, just summon them for now, if they do not come then we will think of something later.”
Tan Hong Fei: “…”
On the other hand, Zhang Feng Han at their side was already of old age and frail, he could not be so stone-hearted as these animals at the same table. He had been frightened from the start until now, as he suddenly heard Gu Yun’s implication, the Old Ling Shu immediately turned pale, he could not refrain from asking: “Does Marshal mean…It is possible that the Qin w.a.n.g army won’t be able to arrive?”
Chang Geng answered, “If the information in the battle report is correct, the Westerners can’t carry too much supply with them — they can’t afford to fight either. If they want to deliver a fatal strike, coming from Jiangnan, they must divide their forces into two ways. They will press on to the capital from the sea route, cut off the pa.s.sageway from the capital to the four sides and besiege us… I’m afraid the summoning order will not be able to pa.s.s to the outside anymore.”
Master Feng Han almost fainted on the spot, he fell down on the chair, breathing heavily.
Chang Geng did not expect such a strong reaction from him. He immediately poured a cup of water and brought it in front of Master Feng Han. He skillfully patted several acupoint at his back and said, “Please stay calm. Older people should try not to be overly joyful or overly sorrowful, otherwise it will easily lead to a stroke…”
Zhang Feng Han grabbed his hand and almost burst into tears: “My Royal Highness, do you not know what anxiousness is?”
“Master Feng Han rest a.s.sured, I haven’t finished yet,” Chang Geng hurriedly said: “When yifu was imprisoned, fearing that there might be changes at the border, I had already contacted some friends.”
As he said this, he took a wooden bird out of his sleeve.
“This kind of wooden bird needs a special kind of magnet to lead the way, which can be used to communicate with other people who held magnets. They had received my letters and should have already departed for the major garrisons separately, I hope they will arrive in time.”
“If the capital city truly fall under siege, I can use wooden birds to communicate this information to them and let them spread the news on our behalf. With the Black Tiger Emblem and my yifu’s private seal, it should be enough to gain trust.”
When Chang Geng realized that the long communication between different places would delay the war news, thus he had began to make use of Lin Yuan Pavilion to set up a ma.s.sive communication network ready for the near future.
Tan Hong Fei and Zhang Feng Han stared at Chang Geng with their mouths agape.
“It’s only a small trick. Under such urgency, I can’t think of any other way ” Chang Geng said, “It can be used for emergencies at the present when it is still unknown to the enemy, but it cannot continue on in the long run. Once the enemy is aware of it, it will no longer be safe. Any small stone can easily shoot it down.”
Gu Yun could not describe how he was feeling for a moment. When he was in prison, it was not as if he wasn’t worried about Chang Geng. But at the present, it seemed that even if it was he himself who managed it at that time, it couldn’t be said for certain that he could do a better job than Chang Geng.
Not only did we keep half of the Black Iron Camp, but we also kept such a move.
While he was grateful and touched, he also felt that the teenager who would only shut his eyes and retreat in front of the sword training puppet that year should not have grown up so quickly, this was all because he did not take good care of him.
But in front of outsiders, Gu Yun could not express any emotion, he only said lightly: “Your Highness arranged everything very well.”
“Let us go, Old Tan, follow me to the northern camp.” Gu Yun took off the wine bottle hanging behind the door and looked at the sky. He did not even wear his armor. He picked up a coat and strode away.
Chang Geng also stood up: “Yifu, go on ahead first, I will return to Ling Shu Inst.i.tute with Master Feng Han to calculate and escort the supply to you.”
The temporary warmth and ambiguous caring had disappeared. The two went on their separate ways, leaving in a hurry.
Gu Yun was right in taking only a coat. Just halfway down the road, the continuous thunder on the horizon suddenly transformed into a lightning as bright as snow, flashing in the air, splitting across the gloomy sky, a rare heavy rain splashing down.
Water strongly pouring, wind and rain covered the way.
Gu Yun and Tan Hong Fei took with them a group of guards and hurried out of the city heading towards the northern camp. Tan Hong Fei was gasping for breath due to the rain. He strongly wiped away the droplets on his face, remembered that back at the manor when he was requesting for an audience, Huo Dan had told him the Marquis was ill. He could not help but usher his horse over to Gu Yun and shouted, “The rain is too heavy, Marshal, you still have a cold. We should better find a place to hide and wait for the rain to stop…”
Gu Yun shouted: “Look at the cloud, who knows what day or year it would stop, don’t talk nonsense!”
Perhaps this heavy rain came too suddenly and out of nowhere. Gu Yun had an ominous feeling in his heart.
The Black Iron Camp was called the ‘black crow’ by the foreigners. As the head of the black crow, Gu Yun indeed has an unprecedented crow’s mouth. Almost all of his forebodings would come true without fail.
Gu Yun quickly took over the chaotic northern camp, at the same time, Chang Geng had escorted over the armors and machines that Ling Shu Inst.i.tute had acc.u.mulated by sc.r.a.pping all that they have left. Among them, there were a number of Black Eagle suits and Heavy Armors.
Tan Hong Fei estimated that the Westerners would go north in two or three days — in reality, he had been too optimistic.
That night, on a watchtower in Da Gu Harbor.
In front of the Qian Li Yan were two dust-proof brushes as large as a palm, struggling to move up and down in vain. Not long after, the wind and rain had beaten them down.
The old tower soldier on duty had to put his hand out the window and grab a rusty handle nearby where the fire engine had been busted for a long time, but no one had repaired it, thus it had to be pulled manually.
He shook away the rain droplets on his hands and strongly twisted the handle, the half-dead gears that had cracked and chipped made a screeching sound. A metal umbrella rose slowly and unfolded, covering the front mirror of the Qian Li Yan in the miserable wind and bitter rain.
The old soldier wiped the water vapor on the gla.s.ses of the Qian Li Yan and complained to his companions: “We are all serving as soldiers, but the other people can fly high in heaven, conquering the wind and clouds, mighty as h.e.l.l. We are just the opposite, every day on the tower, if it was not sweeping the floor then it was playing cards. It’s even more peaceful compared to the monks.”
“Can’t even get our hands on some benefits, all throughout the day there is not a G.o.dd.a.m.n thing to do, but we also had to spent time here all the year round. Even the wives would forget our faces already … hey, how strange, why is it raining so hard? Where did this ma.s.sive grievance came from?”
His companion that was sweeping the floor did not even raise his head: “You better pray nothing would happen, Didn’t you hear? Captain said that the Westerners are about to get here already, you’ll have something to do then.”
“Don’t listen to the Captain’s gibberish. Doesn’t he always go on about how the Westerners would arrive in a few days?” The guard said, “Isn’t the Marquis of Order still keeping guard right next to the capital?”
“The Marquis has been put into prison.”
“Gee, didn’t he get released already?…” As the old soldier said this, as if he had remembered something, he said again: “Yes, it is very strange. Aren’t there rumors about how the Marquis led forces to the capital to force the Emperor to abdicate? How could he be released so quickly, perhaps…”
“Shh,” his companion suddenly raised his head abruptly. “Stop talking nonsense, listen!”
A thunder-like ‘rumble’ came faintly from the wind, the watchtower seemed to sense something and started to tremble.
Thunder?
No, thunder rang out one after another, how could it drag on continuously like this?
The old soldier ran to the Qian Li Yan and quickly pushed the lens upwards. The moment his gaze pa.s.sed through the dark curtain of rain, he suddenly caught sight of a huge shadow out at sea.
A monster such as this one does not exist even in nightmares, with its claws flying up to the sky, growling loudly and angrily and in a low voice.
The soldier thought there was problem with his eyes, rubbing them hard then taking another look, only to find that the ‘sea monster’ was moving like a flying shadow. In the blink of an eye, he could not tell how much it had advanced, but it was already near enough to see clearly from the Qian Li Yan.
The Black Sea Dragons swooped in fiercely in the dark night. Battle flags flew in the wind and rain resembling an ominous beacon, their shadows covered the vast ocean.
“Enemy attack…” The old soldier struggled to open his mouth.
“What?”
The old soldier suddenly turned back and roared, “Enemy attack! The Westerners are coming, ring the bells and beat the drum! What are you are standing there for, go quickly —”
The sound of drums penetrated through the rainstorm, the light on the watchtower that was originally turning slowly suddenly accelerated and began to whirl wildly, one alerting ten, ten alerting a hundred. In a few breathing intervals, all the watchtowers in Da Gu Harbor had sounded their drums.
Lian Wei, the commander of the Northern Sea Navy, had never once dared to close his eyes to rest since the day he received the news of the defeat in the Southern Sea. Right now his heart was beating like mad inside his chest. He grabbed the Qian Li Yan in the hands of his guard.
After only one look, he was forced to cry out, “My G.o.ds,” from his chest to his back, all had turned chill.
“General, what should we do?”
“All…” Lian Wei’s throat moved. “Large Dragons go ahead, no need to say h.e.l.lo, fire the Heavy Artillery instantly… Wait, put on the metal chain, that’s right, all Dragons go side by side! Form a fence of metal chain outside the port!”
“Set up the baihong—”
“Notify the fishing and merchant ships in the port to evacuate immediately!”
Lian Wei looked down at the ‘Feng Huo* Order’ on his table that had not yet been put away — it was the highest level of warfare warning in Great Liang. Once the ‘Feng Huo Order’ was received, it indicated that the whole territory will enter a ready state for war at any moment.
*烽火, lit. beacon fire
On the Feng Huo Order was a letter ‘Gu’, signed by the Marquis of Order himself.
That year, when the Black Iron Camp was attacked in the Northern Frontier, more than ten generals big and small had to take off their Black Armor, lay down their Wind Slasher, was scattered all over the country, some retired, some hid away.
Lian Wei had thought that he would be trapped here in a small harbor all his life, every day idly taking people around the port for patrol. Sometimes, he would interfere with trivial matters such as fishermen gathering to gamble and fight.
Even when he was shocked to hear about how the northern camp had raised up because of what happened that year, he did not have the courage to stand up like Tan Hong Fei to demand justice.
“Notify the northern camp,” Lian Wei tightened his armor, took a deep breath and pulled back his bulging stomach. “Notify the Marquis of Order, Da Gu Harbor was attacked by the Western Navy, hurry!”
As Lian Wei stepped out, he remembered something. He turned back to pick up the Wind Slasher which had been standing in the corner covered in dust for many years. He lightly caressed it, then carried it on his back.
The Wind Slasher slaying through golden sand in the past had rusted so much that even the small component for storing Ziliujin could no longer be opened. It has become a heavy black iron rod, there were no other use aside for robbing the road in the middle of the night.
However, when he carried it on his back again, he suddenly recovered the feeling that the Black Armor was on his body and looked at himself like no other.
Years of sinking away, yet the snow blade and steel armor branded into his bone and blood still never once faded.
The large Dragons’s iron fence and the sea monster are confronted with each other, directly clashing face to face. The Western warships resembled demons and ghosts in the midst of wind and rain. The fierce gale at sea could not hold them back. The crazy wind and waves set off a tide that seemed to engulf the mainland, artillery fires rained down continuously. Countless warships disintegrated in the blink of an eye, sinking into the billowing ocean.
“General, I’m afraid the iron fence won’t be able to stop them!”
“General, too much ships had sunk on the left side, the chain…”
“Watchtower – be careful!”
A cannon artillery surged over like a flaming dragon, even the curtain of rain could not suppress its blazing fire, hitting a watchtower with a loud explosive sound. The tower staggered, slowly collapsing from the middle.
The light that pierced through the wind and rain on the top of the tower went out.
Lian Wei pushed his guards aside and boarded the deck of the warship. He roared, “Do not stop the Heavy Cannons, load the explosive on the baihong bow!”
“General Lian, Da Gu Port is impossible…”
“Move!” Lian Wei pushed the small soldiers near the Baihong arrow aside, he shouted and lifted the rocket of more or less one hundred pounds, smashed it on the enormous Baihong bow. He wiped away the rain water on his face and calibrated the bow with his hands.
The first rocket was blown into the sky by the Baihong bow. In the air, the iron sh.e.l.l at the tail of the rocket fell away. The glint of Ziliujin resembling an impenetrable flaming torch, boosting the speed of the rocket, pa.s.sing by like a meteor, grazing the flag of the sea monster and falling into the water nearby.
The flying banner of the Holy See was torn into a piece of cloth by the tremendous impact, dispersed in the wind, but the momentum of the rocket did not stop, hitting directly at a Western sea monster currently wreaking havoc, exploding into bright fireworks on the ocean.
Without the commander’s order, the Black Iron Camp dared not retreat for even one step.
When the news of the attack on Da Gu Harbor arrived that night, Gu Yun was going through the capital defense with Tan Hong Fei and Han Qi — commander of the Imperial Army for the final time.
Hearing this news, Han Qi almost jumped up from his seat, he shouted. “How could it be so fast!”
Gu Yun’s expression darkened: “Who is the commander of the Northern Sea Navy?”
“Lian Wei,” Tan Hong Fei added a moment later, the rims of his eyes reddened, “He was a deputy of mine that year.”
Gu Yun’s eyes twitched slightly: “Commander Han.”
Han Qi understood his intention, “Yes, this general will return to the capital immediately. You can rest a.s.sured, even if the Imperial Army only had the young master type of soldier, the only burial place for us is at the foot of the imperial capital!”
Gu Yun took a deep look at him and suddenly opened the tent: “Can those old men in Ling Shu Inst.i.tute hurry up?”
Before his words were even finished, a messenger came up and said, “Grand Marshal, Yan Bei w.a.n.g had arrived!”
Gu Yun turned around, Chang Geng’s horse had already came up front, he pulled the reins: “Marshal, Ling Shu Inst.i.tute has repaired the existing black iron armors, 1000 Heavy Armors, 500 Eagle armors, split the Light Armor suits into pieces, three thousand pairs of wrist buckles, four thousand pairs of iron leg guards. Another batch of four thousand pairs of shoulder guards will be sent over later.”